“The cure to boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.”
— Dorothy Parker
I came across this quote on January 29, in a bout of idle clicking online.
I took note of it and wrote it down.
The article I was reading used this quote to make it sound like perpetual curiosity is a good thing.
But if you’ve spent any time in Internet Marketing land, where I live online, you know that perpetual curiosity can be harmful.
It’s Saturday morning as I write this. I’ve been awake for only a few hours but so far my media and content consumption has consisted of:
– A few paragraphs of an article on quantum physics (“mysteries finally resolved?”)
– A few minutes of a training by marketer Travis Sago (I was chuffed to hear my name mentioned right in the first few minutes)
– An excerpt of a tennis podcast hosted by former world no. 1 Andy Roddick (“Is Alcaraz the second coming of Roger Federer?”)
– Several articles on St. Valentine and the history of Valentine’s Day (a Roman holiday, rebranded)
– A summary of the book Million Dollar Consulting by Adam Weiss (“sell outcomes not deliverables”)
– Several visits to my Daily Email House community, to see what people have guessed so far in response to a marketing riddle I’ve posted (nobody’s got it yet)
– A half dozen trips to my email inbox, because, you know, maybe somebody’s written me something important? (no)
Point being, I am what you might generously call a curious person, and what you might less generously call a distractible and scatterbrained layabout.
I realized a long time ago that I would starve to death and die alone, by the side of the road, if I just kept following my curiosity wherever it led me.
I also realized a long time ago that people who end up successful in direct marketing are, like me, all opportunity seekers at heart, who have somehow figured out a way to survive in spite of their perpetual opportunity seeking.
Because while there is no cure for curiosity, there is a palliative, and it’s to do something with what you found out, to put it to use.
I wasted much of this morning in idle clicking around and reading stuff that interested me for the moment.
That’s how I spend much of my day, every day, even now, that I am reasonably successful and productive.
I’ve been able to afford myself this luxury because I pay the piper every day, and I do something with at least a tiny portion of all the information I’ve been exposed to.
Specifically, I write a daily email.
Writing a daily email has kept me from starving to death, alone, by the side of the road.
It’s even allowed me to live a comfortable and interesting life.
Interesting both because I’ve been allowed to keep idly following almost every fascinating story and sales page and link that draws my attention…
… and because actually implementing a bit of what I’ve learned, every day, has opened up incredible opportunities and hidden doors, which I never would have known about had I simply stayed in pure curiosity-land.
Writing every day is a great way to do something with all the info you’re seeking out every day.
If you’re not yet writing daily, I highly recommend it.
And if you want my help in putting some structure around your own perpetual curiosity, and getting an email out every day, consistently, in reasonable time, so you quickly can get back to clicking and reading and being fascinated, here’s where to go: